Work Better. Not Harder.

I’ve also said: “The key to success is simple: Do the work. Be better. Be the best. Hustle.”

So the question is, how can you hustle, work harder than everyone else, create, and do amazing things without feeling utterly and completely overwhelmed. How can you catch your breathe? When will you come up for air?

Today’s Godin nugget-of-wisdom sheds some light on the topic of working better. “People have discovered that after hour 24, there’s no more hours left”, says Godin. And he’s right. Which is why now, more than ever, we’re rewarded not by how hard we work, but rather, how efficiently we use our time, which in many cases, means working much, much less.

You’ve probably heard of Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Work Week. You might have even seen Sarah Bray’s breakdown of her 90-minute workday (which still blows my mind – major props to you, Sarah, but I’m not quite there yet).

The point? Making the hours work for you instead of being a slave to the day is the only way to truly get ahead. As Godin puts it, “Time doesn’t scale, but bravery does”.

“Just in time, the economy is now rewarding art and innovation and guts. It’s rewarding brilliant ideas executed with singular direction by aligned teams on behalf of truly motivated customers. None of which is measured on the clock.

John Cage doesn’t work more hours than you. Neither does Carole Greider. Work/life balance is a silly question, just as work/food balance or work/breathing balance is. It’s not really up to you after a point. Instead of sneaking around the edges, it might pay to cut your hours in half but take the intellectual risks and do the emotional labor you’re capable of.”

How are you spending your day today? How many hours do you work? Probably too many.

It’ll take some bold steps to step back and work less. But you know as well as I do, when you’re over-worked, the work suffers.

Maybe today’s the day you start working less, and in turn, start working better.